Reflecting on one’s past experiences can elicit a host of undesirable thoughts/anxieties that permeate to the surface, causing emotional stress and a feeling of helplessness. The upshot being: the simple act of thinking about said events will not alter the final outcome, making the exercise an unquestionably fruitless one. But in the case of Okabe (where time-travel and reading “steiner” are quite accessible), the ability to improve upon the past is well within the realm of possibilities, allowing for the veritable “happy ending” to occur. This inevitability zaps away a considerable amount of the intrigue for the viewer, especially when a ham-fisted love story is thrown into the fold, making the events to come, seem exceptionally contrived. If anything was surprising about the original Steins;Gate, it was the sweeping praise it received by the anime community. But I suppose an epic theme song combined with a bunch of sexy “LAYDEE’s” (channeling my inner Bill Burr) and “the most realistic time-traveling series I have ever seen” — said everyone on MAL; literally, everyone — will make an anime series quite popular these days, so why not turn back the clock and relive that success one more time.
But before the anime staff can immerse itself into the meat of the story, we desperately need a sexy Christmas party with a few new characters……And, and, we need Okabe to communicate with a virtual Kurisu, because virtual girlfriends are a rising trend in Japan, so appealing to that growing sector will certainly increase viewership. Also, let’s throw in a handful of Ruka being a dude who looks like a girl jokes, because redundancy in comedy always kills.
But redundancy is only half of the story, because for all the “misdirection” and “flabbergast-ery” the show is ceaselessly dull, imparting a loud and clear message to the viewer: Steins;Gate 0 has no identity. Is it a harem? How about an amnesia story? Are we still doing that time-traveling thing? Is Amadeus a social commentary on the proliferation of blue balled young men? Is it a modern day reinterpretation of the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri? Is it a slice-of-life retelling of Back to the Future, with Daru starring in the role of George McFly? How about a Japanese, female-driven John Wick story with Suzuha as the main lead?
No! To all of the above.
The anime staff had one goal in mind, and one goal only: to flaunt Okabe’s chic new black suit. And I must admit, as a fellow man, it looks stunning!
But enough tickling your tits for one afternoon, because the criticism about the show’s identity is an entirely valid one. The deviation from the themes that made the original Steins;Gate mildly interesting, abated the enjoyment of the viewer, giving the show a banal texture that did not bestow anything of actual substance. Okabe was reduced to an impassive, aggrieved individual who became disturbed at the end of several episodes to feign genuine interest. Kurisu was relegated to an inactive participant due to her amnesic circumstances, and was used as a means to trigger significant events in the series. Suzuha preached about the imminence of World War III like she’s one of those homeless domesday clairvoyants. Maho was the Salieri to Kurisu’s Mozart, in the sense that she was an untalented tsundere, despite her best attempts. And, well, everyone else was….um, present? They certainly were there, but they felt more like cogs in a machine, with little to no freedom to act on their own accord.
Having a deficient cast of character’s is one issue, but having a story that felt like it was blended together by multiple writers with no communication with one another, is just inexcusable. The show felt reminiscent of Mirai Nikki, where “shocking” events would occur, but the cohesion of said events never felt homogeneous. Also, there were a considerable amount of “fluff” episodes, where nothing of actual importance took place. The lull between critical events became excruciating at times, and even when a pivotal moment would happen, it felt over-the-top, cliched, and generally out of place. Furthermore, the staff’s eagerness to exhibit their female characters in erotic situations ad nauseam, highlights how the show was never meant to be taken as a serious intellectual endeavor; but rather, a fun project to elicit some laughter, and intermittent moments of heart-pounding drama. Sadly, though, it wasn’t particularly entertaining, and it failed to engage the viewer time and time again.
The final few episodes ratcheted up the intensity to the point of becoming Hollywood-level ridiculous. There was a protracted exposition by the evil scientist, where he explained his “master plan” to the last detail (yet another old scientist who ends up being the bad guy). Unbelievable action sequences, not in the sense they were breathtaking, but just plain unrealistic. And the return of the “sleeping” protagonist to his status of Hououin Kyouma, because the fans need to be hyped up for that “epic” finale. Speaking of “hype,” that is the optimal word for describing this series, as it built itself up on sheer optimism and excitement from the anime community; yet, for all of its grand ambitions, it was nothing more than a used car salesman convincing you that it was better than it really was.
But as Okabe said, “accept what you’ve seen,” and if it wan’t overtly obvious, we have seen a bad show.
